Recipe: Pasta with Lemony Arugula

Rice pasta, arugula and lemon

After a long day filled with food allergy coaching client sessions and meetings and an evening out with friends at an art opening at a very cool venue, I arrived home, starved and dinner was unplanned. Add to this that I had an oral allergy syndrome reaction to something I ate at lunch (probably the raw tomatoes and bell peppers). So my mouth needed something non-nightshade based, something way safer on what was clearly a high pollen day. 

My fridge was filled with stuff for salad (like more peppers and tomatoes) and the huge box of arugula. In the back was one portion of pasta still in the bag. And I had a bunch of lemons in the bin. 

A hop over to Google and I found two easy recipes, one from Epicurious and one from Martha Stewart that I quickly combined to create my own. In the time it took to make the pasta (about ten minutes), voila! Not only was dinner done but I had a delicious, vegan, light, non-oral allergy syndrome inducing delight.

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Rice Pasta with Lemony Arugula
Adapted from Epicurious & Martha Stewart

Ingredients

1 portion safe-for-you pasta, dry
Splash of olive oil like Lucini EVOO
1-3 gloves sliced garlic (as desired)
Juice and zest from one lemon (organic if available)
Handful of baby arugula (or any greens you have on hand, kale, spinach, broccoli)
Accompaniments: freshly grated Parmigiano-reggiano, sea salt, freshly ground pepper, squeeze of lemon, red pepper flakes

Preparation

Cook safe-for-you pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain BUT reserve some of the cooking water. In same pot, heat oil and sauté garlic on low heat until fragrant. Add lemon juice, zest, salt, pepper and pasta water. Bring to a gentle simmer, reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes. Add the handful of greens to the lemon and EVOO “sauce” and stir until bright green and warmed through. Add pasta. Stir until mixed. Adjust for seasoning. Transfer pasta to your dish. Top with additional grated Parmigiano-reggiano, a light sprinkling of sea salt and freshly ground pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice, if desired.

Variation
I added a variation the other night: butter beans with lemon, EVOO, salt & pepper on top. Oh yum!

Vegan, easy. yum!